The Link Between Social Media and Mental Health

Not many people are aware of the link between social media and mental health. According to?social media and mental health statistics for 2021, people who spend a lot of time on social media develop mental issues like anxiety, stress, and especially depression.?Visit our?Mental Health Clinic?to find out more or log on to?www.doralhw.org .?

As of today, many people around the world are on social media. They use it to share photos, and reels, get news, for business purposes, chat, and make friends anywhere around the world. While these are all good features, people get addicted to them. And here comes the problem,?social media affects mental health. It affects everybody who uses a lot of social media daily, especially teens and young adults. As they are more active on social media, they develop serious issues such as loneliness, anxiety, depression, etc. which ruin their mental health.?The only way is to get counseling from a?doctor or psychiatrist.?

Social media and depression – the link?

Social media leads to depression, especially among young people. The current generation is mostly available on many social media platforms such as Facebook(meta), Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, TikTok, etc. There are millions of people available on these platforms.??

However, these people are not connected with real people in real life. They don’t have real friends. They feel socially awkward talking with new people in real life. Many people have more than thousands of friends online but in real life, they don’t have a single friend to talk to. These types of people mostly stay isolated and alone.??

When they are using their social media accounts, they are happy watching short videos, talking to online friends, watching celebrity photos, etc. As the body feels happy releasing dopamine hormone. And when they leave social media for that day, they find themselves alone, with no one to talk to and share their thoughts with. And that gives birth to sadness, loneliness, and depression.??

Studies show that 13 to 66% of teenagers and young adults who spend most of their time on social media suffer from depression.??

Other mental health issues?

Not only depression but there are other mental issues like anxiety, loneliness, sadness, sleep deprivation, stress, etc.??

• Social media is a place where a lot of content is available to consume like photos, short videos, posters, etc. While it makes people happy, it also makes them sad at some point. Seeing people live a fantastic life, having nice cars to drive, having a villa to live in, these kinds of things make people anxious that they don’t have them. According to one study, people who don’t use social media have a significant amount of improvement in their mental health.??
• Loneliness is more come in teens and young adults who are more active on social media sites. These people need to learn how to interact with other people in person. And this lack of real-life experience makes them lonely in real life. They love interacting in the virtual world instead of learning how to interact with people, which is a necessary life skill. Loneliness also leads to depression when they are not using social media and find themselves alone in the real world.??
• Not only happiness but sometimes sadness is also produced by social media. Because in social media people show the best of their lives. Even if it’s not real in all cases, people start trusting the images and videos they see. And start comparing their life with their peers and start feeling sad about the things they don’t have. And if a person doesn’t have friends, he also feels lonely and sad.??
• Social media also leads to sleep deprivation. Late-night chats and video calls with virtual friends eventually harm their sleep and health. Social media also has a lot of content that keeps people engaged, making them forget to sleep. Research shows that the blue light of laptops and phones signals the brain that it is not time to sleep.??

Anxiety, sleep deprivation, depression, etc. increase stress in real life because social media consumes too much time.??

Who is at risk???

Everyone who uses social media more than 3 hours a day is at risk. But the young generation, especially kids, teens, and young adults, are more attracted to and vulnerable to social media and, hence, riskier.

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How to use social media safely???

• Reduce the time spent on social media:?We know, it’s hard. But you have to do it. Try to develop a hobby instead of surfing on social media. You can identify the triggers that make you use social media, like app icons, notifications, messages, etc. Turning off notifications and uninstalling the app allows you to reduce the time you spend on social media. You can use safe mode and set a time for kids to use social media.??
• Making friends in real life:?Having a real friend to talk to is a blessing. Nowadays, few people make friends, and that’s the reason they stay at home most of the time and spend their time on social media or gaming which is not good for their mental health.??
• Learn how to interact with people:?This skill is necessary for life and people have to learn it. Spend your spare time making good friends and colleagues.??
• Do not stalk people:?Stalking people on social media is depressing as we see the perfect life of people that we don’t have. It makes us sad.?Avoid phone or laptop usage before sleep:?1 hour before sleep leave your phone, tv, and laptop aside so that you can sleep properly at night. Having a good amount of sleep also reduces your stress, anxiety, depression, etc. and you feel fresh when you wake up.??
• Maintain some privacy:?As increasing cases of cyberbullying and hacking are seen on social media; it is important to maintain some privacy so that you stay safe. Never share your number, bank details, or address with anyone online.??

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Social media and mental health issues?are deeply linked to each other, especially in today’s time when people have to stay home for a long time.??

One of the factors of social media also leads to suicide. Learn how you can stop that.?Doral Health and Wellness has the best Doctors and Psychiatrists that specialize in Behavioral health make accurate diagnoses, and craft tailored treatment programs. The medical, and rehabilitation care provided by the best of our Mental health Clinic is unparalleled. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.??

To schedule a consultation with the best Mental health Clinic in East New York, please call 1-347-384-5690 or visit?www.doralhw.org .